Alternate Reality: Prince Part Two
by Celeste5502
Summary: Prince Yuri has returned, but he's grave danger of falling prey to the same tricks pulled on him before...can the heroes stop it before he and one other disappear for good?
1. Chapter One: The Former Self

Chapter One: The Former Self

Grandpa Muto had been knocked out by the vast amounts of energy flowing overpowering him; now, he still felt an amount of strange power within him, but it wasn't nearly as consuming as before. He slowly stirred back to consciousness.

Something was…different about him. Not a bad sort of different, and certainly not different from a human, but…different.

He opened his eyes and found himself looking up at his grandson, who was holding him in his arms and staring down at him in pure shock.

"Yug?" he murmured. His voice sounded a little funny, but he put it down to still being slightly out of it.

"Grandpa?" Yugi slowly said. For some reason, his voice had an underlying note of uncertainty in it. "Are you…okay?"

"I remember being enveloped in this really bright light…and I felt this really powerful stuff flow through me…ahh, my head…" He raised a hand towards his aching forehead-and froze.

The hand had smooth, pink flesh, and was slightly smaller-like that of a kid's, not a grandfather's.

Grandpa stared at it in absolute shock. He slowly bent the fingers up and down, as if to make sure it was really his. "Wha…wha…" he stuttered.

He reached up and felt his hair, now uncovered by his headband. He pulled one strand out with a slight wince and stared at it.

Black and red. Not even remotely grey-just raven-like black and ruby red. Another pull, this one at his bangs, revealed a sunshine yellow as well.

He looked down at himself and saw his clothing had gone from overalls to a T-shirt with light green sleeves and blue jeans. Underneath it was a young, thin, healthy body, not even remotely like his older one save for the eyes which, he assumed, were still violet.

As if that wasn't shocking enough, however, he suddenly felt some of the strange energy flow through his arm and up his fingers. Out of them started coming little sparks of a light blue color.

_Sir? Are you all right? _D.M. asked.

"Ah…" was the most he could get out. He was way too shell-shocked to speak even remotely coherently at the moment.

"Mr. Muto, please try to calm down," F.S. said soothingly. "There's no need to worry; you've just been restored to your original form, that's all."

Now Grandpa finally snapped out of it. He let Yugi lower him back onto his feet, and he turned and looked at the three.

"Are you three seriously saying that I'm a prince of some other world?!" he cried out.

"Yep," F.S. replied. "And your grandson's friend Spencer is said prince's father."

"I'm…oh wow…I'm a prince…" Grandpa put a hand to his forehead. "This is…so bizarre…oh…" He slowly took a step backwards. "I think I need to…sit down…"

Yugi dashed up behind him and held him up from underneath his arms before he slumped backwards in a small faint. "Grandpa, are you okay?" he asked.

"I…I don't know…" he murmured. "I suddenly feel a little…weak…"

His eyes slowly closed and his outline suddenly started glowing with a soft, light blue light.

"Grandpa?" Yugi cried.

Grandpa's eyes opened half-way and he murmured, "Who is that? Why are they calling me 'grandpa'? I'm too young to be one…" His eyes shut once more.

Yugi looked up at the three. "What's happening to him?!"

D.M. bit down on one of his fingernails. _Oh, dear...We apologize, Yugi, but apparently only one set of memories is allowed to be kept unlocked in a soul at a time, and if it's Yuri's body and magic that's currently dominant…those memories are going to be his…_

Yugi was horrified. "What about my grandfather?"

_Oh, don't worry, he'll still be in there. His memories are just becoming locked up like Yuri's were, that's all. You and your friends' presences should eventually help break them back out again. In the meantime, however…you might want to watch out for him…take him somewhere that he'll be surrounded by people who care a lot for him._

Yugi blinked. "Are you saying that…"

D.M. smiled. _Yes. Let Spencer see his little one once more. _

He snapped his fingers. The portal at the top of the stairs reopened at the front of Spencer's house. The sun was starting to come up in his world, and birds were letting out small, happy chirps.

Yugi gently picked up the prince in his arms and gazed down at him sadly. "I hope you come back soon, Grandpa…but in the meantime…" He smiled wanly. "Maybe you'll somehow have better experiences in your world this time, Yuri."

He slowly started walking up the stairs; however, he paused for a moment and gazed down at the hand which still clutched his grandfather's headband. "You wouldn't want to lose this, Grandpa…" 

He gently put the child down on the step in front of him and slipped the headband it into his pocket. "Don't worry, I'll keep it for you."

He picked the prince up again and carried him up the stairs to the open portal. Once he'd stepped through to the other world, the portal closed up behind him.

The three stared after where the hero and his former grandpa had walked through. "You think everything's going to be okay with them?" F.S. asked.

_I hope so…_D.M. replied. _But if I know our heroes…something is going to have to happen, whether we'd like it or not…_


	2. Chapter Two: Reunion

Chapter Two: Reunion

Spencer slowly opened his eyes. He sat up in his bed and stretched up towards the sky, letting out a rather loud yawn. As he flipped his legs over the side of his bed and slipped his feet into his light blue slippers, he heard the sound of a bunch of doors banging coming from up and down the hallway.

Puzzled, Spencer stood up and walked over to the bedroom door. Upon peering out into the hallway, he discovered that Joey, Tristan, Téa, and Bakura were opening various doors along the hallway, peering into the rooms beyond them, and slamming the doors shut once more in worry and frustration. Kaiba leaned against the hallway wall and watched their antics with a bored look on his face.

"Um, what are you guys doing?" Spencer called out to them.

Joey slammed another door shut and replied, "We can't find Yug anywhere! He wasn't in his room, he wasn't anywhere downstairs…it's like he just vanished inta thin air!"

"This is a huge mansion, Wheeler," Kaiba said, rolling his eyes. "He could be anywhere inside of it."

"Yeah, well, we might know exactly where 'anywhere' is if you'd actually help us!" Joey snapped at him.

"Humph!" was Kaiba's only reply.

"Have you checked the outside yet?" Spencer asked, pulling his bedroom door shut behind him. "He might have just taken an early morning walk or something."

"We haven't gotten dere yet," Joey replied.

"We thought we should check all over the inside first, since it's so huge," Téa added before she peered inside another room.

"I'll go look; I could just fly around out there and spot him easily." Spencer dashed over to the stairs and slid down on the banister to the lower floor. He walked over to the door and opened it.

He stopped cold when he saw a still pajama-clad Yugi coming up the gold brick walkway leading to his house, carrying somebody in his arms. "Yug!" he cried out, dashing out towards him. "Where've you been; your friends are worried about-" He froze in mid-sentence.

Upon nearing Yugi, he'd seen that the child he was carrying looked almost exactly like him and wore a familiar T-shirt with light green sleeves and blue jeans. On a strong around his neck was a charm which looked like the staff of the Dark Magician Girl.

Spencer stared down at the child. Yugi smiled up at him and said, "Look what I found, Spencer."

He couldn't respond. Slowly, he used his sensing powers on the child in Yugi's arms.

The child had power. Power which was most definitely familiar to Spencer.

"Yugi, how…how did you…" he sputtered out.

At that moment, Yuri stirred and slowly opened his eyes. He looked over at his father and murmured, "Dad?"

Spencer slowly reached out his arms and took Yuri in them. He lifted Yuri up to a sitting position and gazed down into his son's tired eyes. "Yuri…" he murmured, his eyes filling up with tears.

The others had stepped downstairs and out the door when they heard Spencer call out Yugi's name; now they stood a little bit out on the walkway and stared in shock at the reunion between Spencer and his child.

"How de heck did Yugi do dat?" Joey cried.

"Incredible…" Téa breathed out.

Yuri's eyes opened wide as he looked up at his father. "Dad?" He looked around the place. "How'd I get here?"

"My little _hijo_…" Spencer murmured, letting his tears flow. "Where have you been?"

"Uh, out in Kingrah, as far as I know," Yuri replied, confused and a bit baffled by his father's overwhelming emotion.

Spencer blinked. "Yuri, do you know how long you've been gone?"

"Nnnoooo…" Yuri replied. "It's just been one night…hasn't it?"

Spencer stared at his son. "Yuri," he said gently, "you've been gone 5,492 years."

"WHAT?!" he cried out.

"Shh, calm down, little guy; it's unbelievable, I know," Spencer said, gently patting him on the back. "But you're here now, and that's all that matters." He pulled his son into a hug. "You'll never disappear completely from my life again."

"Wonderful…" Yuri muttered sarcastically.

Spencer could just barely hear his son's tone; he looked down at him and murmured, "Yuri, is something wrong?"

"No, Dad, nothing's wrong…" Yuri said, not daring to gaze into his father's eyes.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" a feminine voice suddenly cried.

The teens looked up to see Susiros floating down onto the ground. She still wore her red cloak, but she'd pulled her hair into two pigtails and changed her clothing to a white spaghetti strap shirt with a red cherry on its front, a red mini-skirt, and white knee-high boots.

Spencer clutched his child closer to his chest and snarled, "What the frick does she want?"

Yugi, on the other hand, panicked a little. _Oh, no…she must want Yuri…_He looked back and saw that Yuri's eyes gazed with glee at the blue-haired girl. _And something tells me she won't have too hard of a time getting him…_


	3. Chapter Three: And Separation

Chapter Three: And Separation

"Hello, your majesty," Susiros said with a sickly sweet voice. "And Yuri, sweetie! It's so nice to see you again!"

"Cut the crud and get to the point, you witch," Spencer snapped at her.

He didn't notice his son look up at him with anger in his eyes.

"Spencer, after much consideration, I've finally come to a very important decision," Susiros said. She looked down at Yuri with fake love in her eyes and finished, "From now on, I'm going to be the one that takes care of your son!"

"Oh, really," Spencer said, narrowing his eyes. "And why exactly would you want to do that?"

"Well, because," Susiros shrugged, "it's about time the poor little guy got the proper treatment he deserved. You're oh so busy with saving the world, hosting your parties for other people, being the emcee of so many different festivals in town…and all this time, sweet little Yuri has just been an afterthought in your life! You can't afford to spend your time doing _anything _that pertains to him! So I'm going to take him in, and this time, he's actually going to be one of the number one priorities in his guardian's life!"

_What does this idiot think she's trying to pull? _Spencer thought to himself. "Yeah, sorry, Susie, but there's one teeny tiny little flaw with that plan."

"Oh?" Susiros folded her arms. "And what's that?"

"There is absolutely no way that you're going to even get to touch one hair on my little guy's head!" he snapped. "Yuri is my child; _I'm _the one who can take care of him and get him everything he needs-the only thing you could possibly give him would be everlasting horror and torture underneath you and your boyfriend's rule, you little-"

"DAD, SHUT UP!" Yuri suddenly screamed.

Spencer stared down at his son's angry eyes in shock.

Yuri squirmed out of his father's arms and onto the ground. He dashed past a horrified Yugi and into the outstretched arms of Susiros.

"Yuri, what are you doing?!" Spencer cried.

Yuri looked back at him with absolutely livid eyes. "I'm getting myself out of here, that's what I'm doing!" he screamed. "I'm sick and tired of being beaten up 24/7 and never even being able to reveal my pain just so I can spare you any unnecessary problems! I don't want to be the least important thing in someone's life anymore! I want to be with someone that actually gives a hoot about me!!" He looked back up at Susiros with tears in his eyes. "And she's the only one who ever did…"

Spencer was stunned. "Yuri, you're the _most_ important thing in my life, not the least!" he cried. "You'd never be forced to suffer in silence just because I'm the king of this world!"

"Bull," Yuri snapped. "I always had to heal my scars and bruises those three thugs gave me before I came home just so that I wouldn't force you to get away from doing something important! Susiros told me so!"

Spencer glared angrily at her. "She did, did she?"

"Spencer, honey, don't look so angry," Susiros said with fake shock. "I was only making sure that Yuri knew the truth about his place in your life."

"Stop using your little sweetie pie act, Sus; it's not going to work on me anymore." Spencer looked down at his child with pleading eyes. "Yuri, listen to me: Susiros is lying to you. Any problem of yours would _never _be unimportant in my book, even compared to something of importance to our entire world! You're my child; you're the little light of my life!" A tear trickled down his face. "Yuri, _chiquito,_ please come back here!"

Yuri glared at him for a few moments. Finally he replied: "Dad, you're a pathetic liar."

"Yuri-"

"SCREW YOU!" Yuri let Susiros hold him tightly and said, "Get me out of here, please."

Spencer dropped down to his knees, his eyes wide open and his jaw dropped in horror. Susiros floated up in the air, holding tightly onto Yuri. She looked down at Spencer and gave him a nasty grin before the two flew off in the distance.


	4. Chapter Four: What is Love?

Chapter Four: What is Love?

The others teens had watched the entire scenario play out in horror; now, they quickly dashed down to the shell-shocked Spencer (save for Kaiba, who stayed right where he was).

"Spencer, man, are you okay?" Joey cried.

He didn't respond; he continued staring at the last space where he'd seen his son before he flew off with the she-devil.

Yugi, too, stared at that space in horror. _Grandpa…_he thought. _If Susiros does something to Yuri…_He didn't dare to finish.

Téa knelt down beside Spencer and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Oh, Spencer…I'm so sorry…" she murmured.

Spencer finally sputtered out, "He…he hates me…" Tears started falling down his face. "That witch…She tricked him into thinking he has to go through torture for me and now…my gods…" He slammed down onto his knees and cried out, "I SWEAR UPON EVERYTHING GOOD, TRUE, AND SACRED, SUSIROS, IF YOU TOUCH ONE HAIR ON HIS HEAD, YOU'RE _DEAD MEAT_!"

"Spencer, shouldn't we go after her?" Joey asked.

"I don't know if we can…" Spencer sobbed. "If I try to get near them…I don't even want to imagine what they might do to Yuri…oh, dear gods…"

The others looked down at Spencer sadly as he continued to cry for his son. "Spencer, let's come inside," Téa gently said, helping him back to his feet. "There has to be some way to save Yuri, and we need to figure out what it is."

"Yeah…I guess you're right…" Spencer sniffed. He let Téa lead him back to his house.

Joey looked back at Yugi, who still stood on the brick walkway staring after where Susiros and Yuri had flown off. "Hey, Yug, aren't cha comin'?" he called.

Yugi looked back at him and said, "Oh…uh…I'll come inside soon…I just need a few minutes…"

A confused Joey stared back at him as he reentered Spencer's mansion, thinking to himself, _Wow, I didn't know Yug sympathized wit his friends dat much._

_Grandpa…_Yugi thought. _What's Susiros going to do to you…_A tear fell down his face. _If she hurts you in any way…_

_Yugi, perhaps you should go talk to him, _the Pharaoh said to him in his mind.

_What? _Yugi cried. _Why would he listen to me?_

_Well…it's just a thought, but perhaps if you visit him, you'll trigger some of his memories within him which pertain to you…he could come to see you as a trusting person…and then, even though he refuses to listen to his father…perhaps he'll at least find some strange sort of willingness to trust you…_

Yugi thought about it for a few moments. _That could actually work…but what about Susiros and Resheph? How can we prevent them from catching me?_

_Simple-your power of invisibility. They don't have the ability to see through it._

Yugi smiled. "Right…" he whispered. Finally, he nodded and snapped his fingers, changing from his P.J.s to his blue jacket, white shirt, and blue pants. "Don't worry, Grandpa," Yugi murmured. "I'm coming for you…and you too, Yuri."

With that, he snapped his fingers and transformed into a shower of blue sparks which soared up into the air and out after Susiros and Yuri.

* * *

Yuri was sitting in on a bed in a rather small room up in a tower. Susiros had taken him to a rather interesting place: a black stoned castle which, though it looked gloomy, was apparently where she made her home. The scarcely furnished place had nothing but a bed with torn-up sheets and a nightstand, but she told him it certainly wasn't permanent; he could redecorate it any way he liked. In the meantime, she'd gone downstairs to the main part of the castle in order to talk to her boyfriend (a 'very charming man' was all she'd say about him) about this.

Yuri didn't feel motivated at the moment to redecorate his room. Right now he just lay on the rather uncomfortable bed and stared up at the stony ceiling, with new lines of poetry running through his mind. _In a place of darkened stone, I've left behind the life that was my own…Truly able to start once more, a better life coming in this castle's large tower…_

He paused. Something wasn't right…a castle's dark tower as the place where one could start having a better life? Such an atmosphere, such a location…it seemed all wrong.

He sat up. _What am I thinking? I've gotten away from that idiot of a father and now I'm with the only person in my life that actually cared even a tiny bit about me! This has to be right…so why wouldn't it be?_

He heard a tiny squeak coming from one corner of the place and looked over there just in time to see the back of a rat dash through a little hole in the stone wall. The sight made him shudder. _Okay…maybe there are a few reasons…_

Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of blue out of the corner of his eye. He looked up and saw a shower of blue sparks soar through his window and form themselves into a human being which could have been his twin.

Yuri's eyes widened. "Who are you?" he asked.

The teen looked a little disheartened upon hearing this. "You don't know?" he said.

A faint remembrance came up in Yuri's mind…he went past somebody as he got out of his father's arms and ran to Susiros…

His eyes narrowed. "You're a friend of my father's, aren't you?" He turned around so that his back faced the teen and folded his arms. "Please go back and tell him that no matter what he wanted you to tell me, my answer will be that he can just go to hell."

"Your father didn't send me, Yuri," the teen replied. "I've come on my own accord." He walked up behind Yuri and murmured, "Your father didn't know what was happening to you almost every day…but I do. You were being beaten up by these three jerks all of the time, weren't you. And you hadn't done anything to them-they just did it because they thought it was fun."

Yuri didn't reply.

"I know you don't trust me, Yuri, but please listen to what I'm about to say: If Susiros really cared about you, she would not have told you to hide your suffering from your Dad and deal with it. He would not have just let it go on because he was a king with lots of duties towards his people; he cared way too much about you to do anything like that."

"Sure, right," Yuri rolled his eyes.

"I'm serious, Yuri. When you vanished, your father was so heartbroken that he let his emotions for you get carried away and as a result got himself trapped in a genie's lamp for 5,492 years. When he talked about you, he said that life was beautiful with you around…he praised your poetry, he raved about what a wonderful being you were…"

Yuri whipped around and faced the man with tears stinging his eyes. "Then why was I always the afterthought in his life? Why did the guardians, the evil bakas, and all of his necessary duties come before me?!"

"He didn't mean to do that to you, Yuri," the teen murmured. "I'm absolutely positive of that. And Yuri, please consider this." He placed his hand onto his shoulders. "Would anybody that loved you really leave you alone in some place like this?"

Yuri shoved the teen's hands off. "How the heck would I really know?! Someone who you claim 'loved' me gave me a nice little room and yet treated me like dirt! If there's some sort of true guideline for love, then I don't know what the frick it is!"

Suddenly, Yuri felt a pain spread throughout his entire body. He slammed down onto his knees and winced, clutching tightly at his forehead.

"Yuri?" the teen cried out, kneeling down before him.

An image slowly materialized in Yuri's mind…the teen in his room and three others were standing before him…somehow, he knew he'd been in the hospital for a little while, and only recently had 'gotten better'…he wasn't actually ill, just gone somewhere…

The teen looked absolutely elated. He dashed up to him and embraced him in a hug…a strange feeling started flowing through him…warmth…happiness…care…comfort…what was it…

An elderly voice spoke to him in his mind: _This, Yuri…is love._

The image and pain slowly faded away. Yuri slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the teen. He stared down at him with the same look of caring and warmth that he'd had in the vision.

"Are you okay?" the teen asked.

_He really cares about me…_Yuri thought, his eyes widening.

Slowly, Yuri stood up and eyed the teen with newfound respect. "What's your name?" he asked.

The teen gave him a wan smile. "Yugi Muto."

"Yugi…" he murmured. It sounded familiar…somehow…"Nice to meet you."


	5. Chapter Five: The Truth

Chapter Five: The Truth

"Yuri, are you willing to listen to me now?" Yugi murmured.

Yuri slowly nodded. "I trust you…"

Yugi smiled. "Okay." He put his hands back on Yuri's shoulders. "Susiros doesn't care about you at all. The only reason she took interest in you was because you were Spencer's kid. She wanted you to be miserable, to hate your father, to hate your life in entirety…" He paused. "She wanted you to destroy yourself because you'd see no other way out of it. And when you did…your father would be so devastated that he could easily be gotten rid of, and Susiros' boyfriend would be able to take over your world once more."

"Her boyfriend?" Yuri repeated.

"Yuri…" Yugi looked at the ground. "Susiros' boyfriend is the former king Resheph."

Yuri stared at him in horror. "No…" he whispered.

Yugi nodded.

Tears started falling down Yuri's face. "My gods…" he said. He let Yugi gently pull him into a hug. "She lied to me…she made me think my dad was a nasty jerk…she tried to get me to…oh my gods…"

Yugi gently stroked his back. "I'm sorry, Yuri…" he murmured.

"How could I believe her…that…that witch…"

"Shh…it's okay…" Yugi said. "I was fooled by her too…my friends and I all thought she had to be some kind of sweetheart when we first met her…you're not alone, Yuri…believe me, you're not alone…"

Suddenly, a loud, angry voice resounded throughout the castle. "SUSIROS TOCHNOW, WHERE THE FRICK ARE YOU?!"

Yuri looked up in shock. "That's Dad…" he murmured.

Yugi smiled at him. "See? He's come here to save you. That's how much he cares about you, Yuri."

The sound of footsteps started coming up the stairs of the tower. Yuri looked at the door in horror and said, "That can't be him…he doesn't know where I am…"

Yugi pulled Yuri close and said, "Yuri, hold onto me and don't make a sound, okay?"

Yuri nodded.

Yugi closed his eyes and focused on the power within him. The two of them became completely invisible.

The door to the room slammed open, and Resheph angrily stormed in. He froze when he saw it was 'empty'.

He peered underneath the ragged bed, then out the window to see if Yuri was floating below it outside. He swore under his breath and flew out of the room, his outline glowing furiously with black magic.

"Yuri?" Yugi whispered to the prince, remaining invisible. "I think I know where Resheph would like to meet your father. Do you want to go there?"

"Yes, please," Yuri murmured. "I need to see him. Most definitely."

The sound of a pair of footsteps resounded throughout the room, and the door to the tower seemingly opened and closed all on its own.

* * *

"Where is he?!" Spencer snapped at Susiros. He and the other five heroes were standing in the middle of Resheph's throne room, having chosen to go there through Spencer's custom portal once it was decided that would be a much better plan than wasting time which the two bakas could have used to harm Yuri. Now they stood glaring angrily at Susiros, who was lounging on Resheph's ornate throne.

"Where is who?" Susiros asked innocently.

"DON'T YOU DARE GIVE ME BULL LIKE THAT!!" Spencer snapped at her. "WHERE. IS. MY. SON?!"

"Oh! The little idiot!" Susiros replied, pointing a finger into the air in realization. "Yeah, I'm sorry, but I highly doubt he even wants to look at you right now."

"Only because you turned him against me behind my back, you twit!" Spencer replied.

"Spencer, Spencer, Spencer…is it really wise for you to insult me at this moment?" Susiros smiled. "After all, you never know what could happen to poor little Yuri if I get too mad."

At that moment, Resheph suddenly dashed into the throne room and up to Susiros. He whispered urgently into her ear.

Susiros stared up at him in shock. "What?! You're kidding me!" she whispered back rather loudly.

Resheph shook his head.

"Why, Susie, is there something wrong?" Spencer said to her sweetly.

Susiros looked panicked for a moment, but an idea quickly formed itself in her mind. She grinned and replied, "No, Spencer, sweetie, nothing's wrong at all…well, not for me, anyway." She stood up and stepped down from the throne. "Resheph had just gone up to get the little brat, you see, and…well, I'm sorry, Spence, but your son is gone."

Spencer's jaw dropped. "WHAT?!" he screamed.

Resheph grinned nastily, realizing what Susiros was trying to do. "_Oui, monsieur _Spencer, but eet wasn't et meh own hends. Your son, oh so unfortunately, ees gone on hees own accord."

The other heroes gasped in shock. Spencer slammed down onto his knees and whispered, "No…no…"

"Yeah, he is. Wanna know why?" Susiros smiled. "I'll tell you. You see, you poor little king, you were so wrapped up in your duties towards your people that you didn't take the time to really know your son. If you did, you'd know that almost each and every single day, the poor prince kept getting beaten up by these three nasty thugs for no apparent reason whatsoever."

"You hired them to do it, didn't you," Spencer snapped at her, tears stinging his eyes.

Susiros stared. "Hmm…okay, so maybe there was an apparent reason, but that's not the point right now. Anyway, little Yuri wanted to tell you about what was happening, but I talked him out of it and helped him hide the scars and such they inflicted on him. After all, I told him, you were so busy with all of your other duties as king of the Dimension of the Gods that there was no way you could get involved with his quite unimportant issues. So, the poor little guy got sadder and sadder, until finally…" She shrugged. "Well, I just casually suggested that there might only be one way out of it, and it looks like he's finally decided to take my advice."

Spencer stared at her, dumbstruck. He and the others were so involved in her story that they didn't notice Resheph sneak around the wall and up behind them. Without warning, he shot out a stream of black magic which wrapped itself around the kids from the other world and pulled them together tightly, zapping their mouths shut before they could cry out and alert Spencer.

"You…you…you…" Spencer cried, his voice shaking with anger and sadness.

"What? It's not my fault that your precious little one is-well, _was_-so gullible and impressionable," Susiros said. "If he wasn't, maybe he wouldn't have gone thinking that his daddy didn't give two cents about him."

"How could you…" Spencer looked down at the ground, sobbing hysterically. "How could you…"

"Aw, poor leetle Spencer," Resheph said as he quickly walked back to the throne with extremely fake sweetness in his voice. "So sad because hees son ees gone for good…bet look et ze bright side…" Resheph held out his hand and a staff shaped like the Dark Magician's appeared in it. "Ah ken help you get beck to heem…JEST DON'T MOVE!"

Resheph charged at Spencer with his staff straight out in front of him, letting it glow furiously with black magic. He swung it down-

-and it slashed right through something invisible standing in front of Spencer.

"WHAT ZE-"

An orb of light blue magic suddenly appeared which blasted Resheph all the way to the other end of the throne room and right into Susiros, knocking the two of them out cold. From in front of Spencer, Yuri appeared, with a deep gash right through his chest where Resheph had brought down his staff.

Yugi appeared as well, dashing towards Yuri and Spencer. "Yuri, NO!" he screamed in horror.

Spencer looked up to see his little one collapse down to the ground in front of him. He gasped in shock and scrambled forward, picking his son up in his arms. "YURI!" he screamed.

Once Resheph had been knocked out, his magic around the others had vanished into thin air. They now quickly dashed over to where Spencer and Yugi were kneeling with Yuri clutched firmly in Spencer's arms.

Yuri looked up at his father and smiled. "Dad…" he murmured.

"Yuri…" Spencer cried, his tears staining his son's T-shirt. "_Hijo mío, _I am so sorry…I should have paid more attention to you…I should have realized something was wrong…"

"No, Dad, it's not all your fault," Yuri replied. "I shouldn't have believed that woman…she was a nasty little she-devil…Yugi showed me that…"

Spencer looked at Yugi with wide eyes. "He did?"

Yugi smiled wanly at him and nodded. "I wanted to make sure he knew the truth…I told him about Susiros and what she was doing to him…and I brought him down here while she was talking to you…he heard everything."

Spencer smiled at him. "Thank you…" he whispered.

"Dad…" Yuri murmured.

Spencer quickly looked down at him. "Yes, Yuri?"

"I want you to know…I forgive you…you weren't all that great at paying attention to me…but you weren't doing it on purpose…you did care about me…more than anyone else in my world…and for that…I thank you so much…"

"Yuri, no…" Spencer cried. "Don't talk to me like that…don't talk like you're…"

"I'm sorry, Daddy…that's what Resheph was going to do to you…but now it'll happen to me instead…" He gave his father a small smile. "The people of our world need you, Dad…go forth and help them…save them from suffering my fate…"

Spencer stared down at him sadly. "I will, little guy…I will…" he sobbed.

"And Dad…" Yuri slowly started closing his eyes. "I love you…"

And with that, he snapped his eyes shut and let out one last sigh.

"No…no…" Spencer sobbed hysterically. The other heroes were stunned; even Kaiba looked a bit saddened by this. "No, Yuri, please…don't go…you only just came back…I never even found out what happened to you before…"

"Spencer?"

Spencer looked up at Yugi, who also had tears flowing down his cheeks.

"I know what happened to Yuri…"


	6. Chapter Six: One

Chapter Six: One

Yuri slowly awoke from what felt like a slumber. He sat up and looked around with wide eyes. He was in a bedroom, but it wasn't the one at Dad's house, nor at Resheph's castle. Its only normal piece of furniture was a bed with light blue sheets. The entire place was wallpapered with poetry that he'd written, hung up with sparks of light blue magic. A window with a light blue seat looked out upon a rather gloomy yet strangely beautiful landscape, dotted with black trees with glowing light blue stripes, black and light blue flowers, and glowing light blue butterflies which flew all over the place. The very scene simply begged for poetry to be written about it.

"What is this place?" he said to himself.

His eyes fell on a light blue door. He got up from the bed and walked over to the door.

Upon opening it, he peered out into a hallway which was darkened on either end. Right across from him was a stony yellow door with an Eye of Osiris which was surrounded by old, yellowed bricks, almost like an entryway into an old Egyptian building.

Puzzled, Yuri walked over to the other door and slowly opened it.

Inside wasn't another room-it was an entire desert. In the distance was a bunch of pyramids which gleamed underneath the golden sunlight. Closer to the door was a small oasis with palm trees and a cool, sparkling blue lake right next to what appeared to be the site of an Egyptian dig. The sand had been dug up to form a small pit in the desert, leading far down into the earth.

Strangely, however, though the dig was pretty deep, there was only one person in it. Even stranger, it was a rather old man wearing a khaki jacket with lots of pockets, khaki shorts, heavy work boots, and an orange headband on his head. He was hard at work, on his knees and digging with a trowel into the sandy earth. Around him were various dusty artifacts from a gold neck-plate to a small, golden scarab.

Yuri blinked. _What on earth is going on here?_

The man appeared to sense that he was being watched. He looked up and saw Yuri gazing over the side of the dig. He called up, "Why are you just standing there? Come down and actually take a look at these!"

Still slightly confused, Yuri jumped and slid down the side of the pit to its bottom. He gazed down at the Egyptian treasures, very delicately picked up the scarab in his hand, and murmured, "How beautiful…"

The old man smiled. "Yes, they are, aren't they? That's the beauty of being an Egyptologist-one finds these incredible gold treasures all buried in what just looks like a dusty, barren desert. Really gets your poetic juices flowing, hmm?"

Yuri stared at him. Already, he'd been thinking of thousands of different lines of poetry ('Golden treasures in barren sand/ Hidden gems in dirty land…'). "How'd you know I write those?"

"I peeked into your room while you were away," the old man replied, continuing his digging into the ground. "I wanted to try and find out as much about you as I could while I was, erm, out."

Yuri blinked. "Uhh…who exactly are you? And where are we?"

The man put down his trowel and stood up. "This, child," he indicated the entire dig, "is my mind room. It's apparently where all of my memories and personality traits are stored away, revealing what truly makes me me." He smiled down at Yuri. "And the room you were in was your own mind room. You've been in there for…5,492 years now, I believe?"

"What?" Yuri replied. "But…I've only just seen this place for the first time!"

"That's because you were kept asleep during those thousands of years," the man replied. "You wanted to be completely locked away, and that's what you got until your father started coming into my world."

"Wait…the gods…the reincarnation…" Yuri's eyes widened. "That…wasn't a dream? It really happened?"

The old man smiled. "Yes, child. And I am your reincarnation." He bowed. "Solomon Muto, at your service."

"Muto?" Yuri paused. "Are you related to my Dad's friend? The one that looks like me?"

"Ah, so you've met Yugi? Yes, I am-he's my grandson."

Yuri became very confused. "But aren't you, like, a hundred thousand years old or so?"

Solomon was very taken aback. "I AM NOT THAT OLD!" he screamed out. "I'M JUST A MORTAL!"

"Oh." Yuri blushed. "Sorry, sir."

"And besides, I might be a grandfather, but I'm still in very good shape!"

Yuri looked up and down at him. "Uhh…no offense, Mr. Muto, but you're round."

"Well, round _is_ a shape."

Yuri covered his mouth and tried to hide his laughter.

Suddenly, the sound of voices speaking appeared to resound from above them: "Yuri was reincarnated as your…grandfather?"

"Yes, Spencer."

Yuri recognized the voices; it was his father and that teen named Yugi talking.

"Oh my gods, Yugi…I am so sorry."

Yuri blinked. "Why would he be sor-" And then it suddenly came to him. "Wait a minute-I'm dead!"

"HA!" Solomon let out a laugh. "Young man, we are absolutely not dead. If we were dead, we'd have been knocking on those pearly gates to heaven by now."

"But…Resheph…his magic…"

"He mangled our body pretty badly, yes, but that's just how we look on the outside. Our souls are still very much alive, though-they're being kept that way by the spirits of the ones that love us the most."

"What?"

Solomon smiled wanly at him. "You haven't noticed, have you? Look closely at yourself."

Yuri looked down at his hands. He suddenly noticed that they had a very faint glow of both gold and light blue. When he looked up, he saw that the man was glowing, too, with a faint blue light. "See that? That's their life energy, pooled towards making sure you and I stay alive. And since you've got some of your light in there, too, I can tell that you don't want to die just yet either."

Yuri looked down at the ground. "I…maybe I don't…I dunno…"

Solomon shook his head. "You're worried that if you go back, you're going to just continue living that same hell you lived through each and every single day, right?"

"Yes," he murmured in reply.

Solomon knelt down to his eye level and asked, "Young man, how old are you exactly?"

Yuri looked away from him and replied, "A couple thousand years."

"That's not very old for people from your world, is it."

He shook his head. "Nope…I'm practically a newborn."

Solomon shook his head. "Well, then, no wonder you want to stay alive-you want to know if there's really more to life than being ignored and beaten up, and if it does, then you most definitely still have the chance to experience it! And you don't want it all to just go down the drain now, do you?"

Yuri paused. Finally, a tear fell down his face and he murmured, "No…I don't…"

"Yuri, young man, let me tell you something: I'm younger than you years-wise, but I've lived out a practically full life already, and I know for a fact that it can be filled with the laughter and love that you've desired for such a long time. And I promise, child…" Solomon held out his hand towards Yuri. "If you will join me, we can pool our energies together, and you can finally experience that life you've dreamed of for thousands of years." He smiled. "So what do you say, young one?"

Yuri looked out at the outstretched hand. He remembered the memory which he'd apparently gotten from the older man-such warmth…such love…he could really experience that every day…

He smiled and nodded. "Okay." He reached out and took the outstretched hand in his grasp.

The glows around them suddenly increased in intensity. Yuri watched in awe as the desert scene started swirling around them, glowing faintly with blue and gold light as well, and a strong gust of wind started picking up. The door to the memory room opened, and Yuri's poems and the blue glowing butterflies flew inside, becoming enmeshed in the wind.

"What's happening?" Yuri cried out.

Solomon smiled. "Looks like we don't have to keep switching back and forth between each other anymore. There will no longer be a 'you' and 'me', Yuri-from now on, we're an 'I'."

Yuri stared in shock. The desert scene vanished in a glow of bright blue light, and both had to shut their eyes as the light became blinding…

* * *

Spencer had his hand on Yugi's shoulder, his other one holding Yuri close to him. Yugi, too, kept one hand on Yuri, desperately hoping to sense some life in him. The others were looking down at the two sadly, with Joey and Tristan holding each other up and trying desperately to hide their tears, Téa giving Yugi a little half-hug, Bakura trying to see if he could sense any spirits in the room, and Kaiba trying really hard to remain indifferent.

Suddenly, Spencer, Yugi, and Yuri's bodies started glowing with their respective shades of magic. The teens stared down in shock as the gash across Yuri's chest started to fade away, and the glows around Yugi and Spencer flew down through their hands and joined the glow around Yuri.

"What's happening?" Yugi asked.

"I…I don't know," Spencer said, just as shocked.

Finally, the glow slowly faded away. The gash Resheph had created was completely gone.

Slowly, Yuri's body stirred. Yugi and Spencer watched in shock as he opened his eyes and looked up at the two. He smiled. "Hello."

Yugi and Spencer couldn't reply; they were too overjoyed to speak.

Yuri looked over at Yugi and laughed, "Don't be so shocked; your old man is quite resilient, you know."

Yugi stared at him; Spencer's face fell.

However, Yuri then looked over at Spencer and said, "So I can assure you that I'm not going to die all that easily, Dad."

Now the two of them were confused. "Wait…so are you Grandpa or are you Yuri?" Yugi asked.

The child sat up and smiled, "Both. I'm not two separate people anymore, you guys. My memories have been combined into the one whole person I'm meant to be. There's no more switching, no more having either one or the other out at particular points in time-from now one, it's just going to be me…" He paused. "Wait…is my name now Solomon or Yuri?"

"I'd prefer to just call you 'Grandpa'," Yugi laughed.

Grandpa shrugged. "That's fine by me..." He looked down at himself. "Although I don't really think it's too befitting for this body at the moment…"

Suddenly, a white orb of light appeared in front of them. It expanded and became a large portal which the three gods stared through. _Quickly, all of you, come in here right now, _D.M. ordered them.

"What's wrong?" Yugi asked, seeing the concerned looks on their faces.

_Just come, before those two bakas wake up,_ he replied, indicating the unconscious Susiros and Resheph. The three gods stepped away from the portal and walked down the stairs.

Slightly confused, the teens stood up and walked through the portal, letting it close behind them.


	7. Chapter Seven: Which World

Chapter Seven: Which World

The teens stepped down the stairs and up towards the three gods. Concerned looks had crossed their faces.

D.M. sighed and looked down at Grandpa/Yuri. _Well, child, you've been able to unite yourself into one whole human being, and for that, we give you our full congratulations._

Grandpa/Yuri bowed and replied, "Thank you."

_However…_The three gods averted their eyes. _You now have a…decision to make._

Grandpa/Yuri blinked. "What decision?"

"Where you're going to live," F.S. replied. "You're not able to duplicate yourself or anything like that. You have to decide: Are you going to live the rest of your life out as prince of the Dimension of the Gods, or as the grandfather of the vessel of the Pharaoh? And once you choose…we have to make it stick by erasing all traces of you in the other world."

Grandpa/Yuri heard two gasps behind him. He knew it had to be Yugi and Spencer. "Oh…uh…which one…huh…" He bit down on one fingernail.

There was a very uncomfortable silence for a few moments. Finally, Yugi stepped forward and placed one hand on Grandpa/Yuri's shoulder. "Grandpa?"

He looked back over his shoulder to see that a few tears had formed in Yugi's eyes, but there was a wan smile on his face. "I want you to know that you can feel free to choose whatever world you like. Don't worry about me; just do whatever will make you happy."

Grandpa/Yuri stared at Yugi for a moment, and then sighed. "Yugi, you've always been so willing to sacrifice for those you love…" He gave a small smile. "I couldn't be prouder to have such an unselfish and caring child for a grandson."

Spencer watched the two of them with tears welling up in his eyes. "Please excuse me…" he murmured to the others. "I just need a minute…"

He turned towards one of the walls. D.M. waved his hand, and an opening appeared within it. Spencer walked out of the room, and with another wave, the gap closed behind him.

* * *

Spencer leaned against the reformed wall and looked down at the ground. Tears had started streaming down his face.

_Spencer…_he thought to himself. _It's about time you faced the facts…_He shut his eyes. _You thought you could easily handle a child…you had the money and the will to take care of him…but you didn't give him what he deserved…your time…your attention…_

He slid down to the floor. _You didn't even show him your love…dear gods…_

After crying for a little bit, he continued: _And your situation hasn't changed…you're still the king…you still have the people and the world in its entirety to take care of…Yuri would probably get lost in the shuffle again…no matter how hard you tried to be a better father…_

He stood up and wiped the tears off of his face. "You know what has to happen, Spencer," he whispered to himself, "no matter how much it hurts…"

He turned around and knocked on the stone wall.

* * *

After a period of time, the teens and gods heard a rapping noise from the other side of the wall. D.M. waved his hand again, and the opening reappeared. Spencer stepped inside of the room, tear stains on his face and hands.

He looked at Grandpa/Yuri and said, "Okay, Yugi had his say in what he wants you to do, so now I'd like to have mine, please."

Grandpa/Yuri nodded, even though he was a bit afraid of what he thought Spencer was about to say. _He's going to try to convince me to come back…poor guy's going to be heartbroken…_

Spencer took a deep breath. "Go back and live the rest of your life as Yugi's grandfather."

Everyone stared at him in shock. "Uh…huh…_what_?" Grandpa/Yuri cried.

Spencer burst out laughing. "You thought I was going to get on my knees and beg for you to come back, right?" He shook his head. "No, _chiquito_. I care deeply about you, yes…but I'm not cut out to be a father for you…and I don't want you to go through that pain you endured before again. You've got a family, friends, and a heckuva better life over there in the other world...I don't want to tear you away from it." Tears flooded his eyes again, and his voice started to shake. "I love you, Yuri…and sometimes…when you love someone…the best thing you can do for them is…let them go…"

He sank down to his knees and started to sob.

Grandpa/Yuri dashed over to him and hugged him. "Thank you for understanding," he said.

"You're welcome, little guy," Spencer replied.

_So I suppose, then, that it's settled,_ D.M. said.

Yuri looked back at him and nodded.

D.M. snapped his fingers. _There. It's done. I've left behind a few books and trinkets which I'm sure you'd like to keep, Spencer, but aside from that…it's as though Prince Yuri never existed._

"What about the reason for me getting captured by Resheph and Susiros?" Spencer asked, looking up at him.

"Simply put down to some unknown cause. Therefore, be warned-you know how much people in your world like to obsess over unsolved mysteries."

Spencer let out a small laugh. "Yeah, we're not exactly happy with that kind of stuff in our 'all that's unknown is well known' world."

D.M. held up his hand to the portal. _Would all of you like to return to Spencer's mansion now?_

"Um, actually…" Spencer slowly stood up, still holding onto Grandpa/Yuri. He looked around at his friends and said, "I…I'd like to have a little bit of time to myself…if that's okay."

The others nodded. "Sure, man, we understand," Joey replied.

D.M. waved his hand. The portal opened right in front of Spencer's mansion. Slowly, the king let go of his former son and walked up the stairs. Right before he entered, he turned around and said, "I'll send you guys back your stuff later." He took one last look at Grandpa/Yuri. He wanly smile and murmured, "Bye, Yuri."

Grandpa/Yuri smiled and gave a small wave. "Bye, Dad."

Spencer turned and walked through the portal. Once he'd entered, the portal closed behind him.

D.M. once again waved his hand. The portal reopened, this time inside of the abandoned warehouse. _Next stop, the other world. And don't worry; we'll take down Spencer's time freeze spell._

"I dunno…it might be fun ta be de only ones actually movin' in time," Joey said. His eyes widened. "Oh, man, imagine all de food we could get away wit eatin'!"

"Where do we start, fast food or Chinese?" Tristan asked, licking his chops.

D.M. stared. _Sorry, but we'll most definitely be unfreezing time after hearing that._

"Aw, man, why?" Joey moaned.

"Because we'd all prefer that our town doesn't suddenly become involved in a famine," Kaiba replied, rolling his eyes.

Téa, Yugi, and Bakura held Joey and Tristan back as Kaiba walked up the stairs and through the portal. Once he'd gone and the two had finally calmed down, the others followed after him.

Before Yugi and his grandfather could get up to the portal, however, Yugi suddenly paused and asked, "Uh, Grandpa…aren't you forgetting something?"

Grandpa stared at him for a few moments. He suddenly remembered that he still had Yuri's body. "Aw, can't I keep it?" he begged. "It ages _way _more slowly than my mortal form!"

"Grandpa…" Yugi shook his head.

Grandpa/Yuri sighed. He looked over at the three gods and said, "How do I turn myself back?"

_Simple. Just remove the necklace._

He slowly reached up unfastened the necklace from his neck. Almost the moment that it was off, he suddenly glowed with bright blue light and returned to his elderly form.

Yugi pulled his headband out of his pocket and handed it back to him. "I believe this is yours, Grandpa."

He tied it back onto his head and sighed sadly. "Ah, well, it was fun while it lasted." He held the jewelry out to the gods and said, "Here you three are."

_Why don't you keep it,_ D.M. replied. _Just as mementos of your former life._

He stared at them for a moment, then shrugged. "Whatever you say," he replied. He stuck the charm into his overalls pocket. "Now c'mon, Yugi, let's go home." He stretched and yawned. "I need some sleep after all of this excitement…how do you find the time to rest in between all of your missions?"

Yugi smiled. "We're not all that sure either, really. Would you like to hear about a few of them?"

"Sure, why not?" The two walked through the portal. "Start with your first one-when did you get these powers?"

"Well, it happened about a couple of months ago…"

The portal shut behind them.

F.S. looked at D.M. and asked, "Are you sure we should have let him keep them?"

D.M. smiled. _Well, of course. How else is the final part of the plan going to come to pass?_


	8. Chapter Eight:Final Fate

Chapter Eight: Final Fate

_One week later…_

At the Game Shop, Grandpa Muto was wiping down the counter when Yugi entered the store, fresh from another day at school, and said, "Grandpa? I'm home!"

"Ah, good," Grandpa replied, placing the rag onto the counter. "Nobody came to attack you today, I hope."

Yugi laughed. "Nope. Everything was just normal."

His face sobered a little. "What about Spencer? Have you heard from him as of yet?"

Yugi shook his head. "No, but that's not all that strange. He usually doesn't come here unless some evil psycho comes out of his world and into ours."

"Oh, dear…" Grandpa placed his elbow on the counter and his head onto his hand. "I just want to make sure that he's truly okay with all of this, even if he knows it's for the best." He shrugged. "I mean, _maybe _it would have been nice if Spencer could have seen Yuri every once in a while…but perhaps not as his son…as someone else…in a way…"

Yugi blinked. "How could that be?"

Grandpa laughed. "I don't know; you're the one that's supposed to make the impossible possible."

Suddenly, a bunch of people started running down the street outside, screaming in horror. Yugi whipped around and stared as beams of red, magical light flew down from the sky and crashed into the streets.

"Um, perhaps now is a time for you and your friends to jump into action," Grandpa suggested.

"Yeah, good idea," Yugi replied. He dropped his backpack on the floor and dashed out of the shop, calling over his shoulder, "Be back soon, Grandpa!"

"You'd better be!" he replied.

Grandpa watched as Yugi dashed down the street, towards the direction of the magic rather than away from it. Knowing the world was in good hands, he returned to washing down the counter.

However, he looked up for a moment and smiled. "Must be quite exciting, being able to use magic and fight off evil almost every day. Almost makes me wish I could join them."

Suddenly, a small glow came from his overalls pocket. He looked down and stared as the necklace lifted itself up and floated out in front of him. He'd kept it on him ever since he'd come back from his former world, but he never could figure out why.

A voice suddenly came from within his head: _Well, sir, you do have the power to do so, you know._

He looked up at the sky. The voice was definitely D.M.'s. Smiling, he shook his head and called out, "You always do know what's truly for the best, don't you-although you might want to make a few improvements on how exactly you ensure it happens."

Three laughs, two human and one like an animal roar, resounded throughout the shop.

Grandpa reached out and took the necklace. He eagerly fastened it around his neck.

It started to glow with light blue light. The vast amounts of energy and vitality started flowing through his body again. Grandpa closed his eyes and let the feeling wash over him…

* * *

Susiros and Resheph flew over the city of Domino, blasting out beams of black and red magic at whatever buildings and people came in their sight.

"This is oh so much fun, isn't it, Resheph love?" Susiros giggled.

"_Oui, mon cher,_" Resheph laughed. "Eet's eh whole new town weeth practeecally no experience weeth magic. Fresh meat to destroy and _extremely_ easy means ev doing so-eet's almost like hell!"

Suddenly, blue and green beams of magic blasted right into Susiros and Resheph's backs. The two screamed out in pain and whipped around to see the six heroes of that world floating behind them, five glowing with their respective shades of magic, and the sixth making full use of his essence stone.

"So sorry, you two, but this world is going to be far from easy for you to destroy," the Pharaoh snapped at them.

Susiros and Resheph snarled at them. "Oh, really?" Resheph replied.

"Yes, your royal craziness, really," a voice replied from behind them.

The two turned to see Spencer floating behind them, his staff clutched firmly in his hand and his outline glowing brightly with gold magic.

Susiros tossed her head. "Well, fine, if that's the way you bakas wanna play-LET'S DO THIS!"

The two turned and swooped down towards Domino High, with the heroes hot on their tail.

Once they arrived, the villains suddenly whipped around and fired out beams of red and black magic at them. The seven soared up and retaliated with their own beams-blue, green, orange, pink, grey, white lightning, and gold-which the two quickly soared away from, making a couple of craters form in the earth.

"Feh-ees zat ze best you ken do?" Resheph grinned evilly. "Well, allow me to show you a new leetle trick zat Ah've picked up." He snapped his fingers and an old, yellowed piece of paper appeared. He looked down at it and read,

_Servants ev ze devil, evil beings ev darkness,_

_Ah ask of you, now, to fulfill my request:_

_Come on ep from your fiery home_

_End make your designated task meh own!_

Thunderclouds materialized above the school. Huge bolts of lightning flashed overhead, creating an ominous atmosphere. Black and red puddles suddenly formed in the ground, and up from them came devilish, goat-like beings with glowing red eyes, curled horns, black skin with red swirls and sharp claws on both their hands and feet.

"Demons," Spencer whispered in horror.

Resheph smiled and nodded. "_Oui, monsieur _Spencer. Ah thought zey'd create quite en eenteresting challenge for you today." He raised his voice and called out to the demons, "TEAR ZEM LIMB FROM LIMB!"

The demons grinned, revealing sharp black teeth, and lunged out at the heroes.

Quickly, the teens jumped up and fired more beams of magic out at the demons. They were extremely fast, however, and were able to avoid almost every beam by bounding all over the place. With a couple of leaps, they were suddenly able to jump up onto the teens and pin them down to the ground, their arms behind their backs and unable to fire out magic.

"AGH! HEY, GET OFFA ME, YA PSYCHO FREAK!" Joey screamed out, struggling to break free from the demon's grasp. He shifted his body into diamonds, but not even the toughest substance in the world was able to get out of the demonic grip.

Resheph smiled and held out his hands. A staff similar to the Dark Magician's appeared which he clutched firmly. He walked over to the Pharaoh and Spencer, who were pinned down next to each other on the ground. "Hmm…one leetle brat who keeps me from takeeng back ze throne, ze ozer zat set heem free een ze first place. Wheech one should Ah destroy?"

He looked back and forth at the two for a few moments. Finally, he shrugged and said, "Oh, what ze heck." He raised his staff into the air. "AH'LL JUST KEEL BOTH EV YOU ET ONCE!"

Suddenly, a light blue orb of magic shot out from the sky and directly into his chest. He flew into the air and crashed so hard onto the ground that he was knocked out almost instantly. Susiros screamed out in horror and quickly dashed to Resheph's side, vainly attempting to wake him up.

Another seven orbs blasted right into the demons. The good magic destroyed them almost instantly, blasting them to thousands of black little pieces which vanished into thin air.

The heroes stood up once they were free and looked around. "So, uh, who did dat?" Joey asked.

Susiros angrily stood up and screamed out, "WHO HURT MY LOVE?!"

A voice called from above, "I did, Susie."

The heroes and villains looked up to see someone float down from the sky. He looked almost exactly like Yugi, save for his green-sleeved T-shirt and an orange bandana tied around his neck. Clutched in his hand was a staff like the Dark Magician Girl's.

The heroes' jaws dropped with shock. Susiros snarled at him, "And who exactly are you?"

The child smiled as he touched the ground. "I'm Yuri Solomon. You, though, would prefer to call me the newest little brat, I'm sure."

"Actually…" Susiros held out her hand and a green and gold staff with a violet orb at the end appeared in her hand. She pointed the staff right at the child. "I'd prefer to call you DEAD!"

She fired out a beam of red magic at Yuri; the child, however, countered it with a blast of light blue magic from his own staff. The two beams shoved back and forth in a deadly contest of magical strength.

Suddenly, beams of blue and gold joined the light blue, shoving Susiros' beam back and knocking her down to the ground. She wobbly got up, slightly dazed from the blast, and pulled a custom portal out of her cloak. She slammed it onto the ground and zapped a few sparks of red magic at it, with only one entering the opening at the top. A portal came out of it which led right to Resheph's throne room.

Susiros picked up her unconscious love and carried him towards the portal. She looked back over her shoulder and snapped, "We'll remember this, you little brats," before she stepped through and let the opening slam shut behind her.

Yuri stared after her and said, "I can't believe I ever thought that witch cared for me."

"She's Susiros Tochnow," Spencer replied, coming up from behind him. "She doesn't give a hoot about almost anyone."

The Millennium Puzzle glowed and Yugi took over his body again. He walked up to Grandpa and asked, looking up and down at him, "How did you…"

Yuri smiled. The staff in his hand glowed with blue light and shrunk back down into a charm on a chain which fastened itself around his neck. He picked the charm up in the palm of his hand and replied, "This wasn't just given to me as a memento-the gods wanted me to have it because if I put it on, I can shift back into my original form, magic and all."

"You mean…"

He nodded. "I think they want me to help you protect the world." He looked up at his grandson and said, "But I'll only do so with your permission, of course."

Yugi stared at him. "Do you really want to?"

Grandpa rolled his eyes. "Yug-I was an old guy who was living a rather unadventurous, boring life as a Game Shop owner and occasional target of evil. And now this gives me the chance to be young again and have loads and loads of more excitement and danger than I could ever have had as a mere mortal." He pulled Yugi close and, looking him right in the eyes, cried, "YES I MOST CERTAINLY WANT TO!"

"Ah…" Yugi was a bit shocked. "Well, it's okay with me if it's okay with the others."

"Of course, man," Joey nodded. "De more de merrier."

"Especially when it comes to fighting evil creeps," Tristan added.

"If it means we can get out of these insane ordeals all the more quickly…" Kaiba murmured.

Finally, all eyes fell on Spencer. Grandpa walked up to him and asked, "Are you okay with it?"

Spencer looked into his former son's eyes. He stared into them for a few moments, and then finally smiled. "Well…perhaps I'll never have you back as my son…but I'll at least settle for a good friend and ally."

Yuri smiled and nodded. "Thank you…Spencer."

Spencer blinked. "Okay, that's something I'll need a bit of time getting used to…"

Suddenly, another chorus of horrific screams and sounds of blasts came from the town.

"Aw, man…more evil creeps?" Joey cried.

"Well, c'mon, you guys," Tristan sighed, "let's go save the world once more."

Five of the eight flew up into the air and off in the direction of the screams. Yugi, Spencer, and Grandpa/Yuri stayed on the ground for one moment, staring up at them.

Yugi looked at his grandfather and said, "You ready?"

"He's a former son of a defender, Yug," Spencer laughed. "He was pretty much born ready."

Grandpa nodded, his eyes glowing with light blue light. "Let's go."

And together, the three soared up in the air and off into Domino, ready to take on whatever evil was waiting for them this time.


End file.
